As it sounds, a bloated time management system is one that has grown in size or complexity to the point that it is cumbersome to use effectively. Its awkwardness arises from either too many tools or processes that are excessively complex.

Symptoms of a bloated time management system:

Too many tools – Too many tools can be a result of Creep. Redundant tools reduce efficiency and create duplication/sync issues for your information.

Too much complexity – If your system has too many moving parts you will not be able to keep up with it. It will slow you down, and parts of it will be forgotten. Ever find the “other list” that you made and then forgot?

Too big to be used effectively – This can be a literal thing. I know people who are great with a dayplanner, but it is so big that they only carry it with them sometimes. Your time management system has to be with you…always. No exceptions.

Wrong tools for the job – You wouldn’t use a hammer to fix a screw, and you wouldn’t use a blank spiral bound notebook for your calendar. These examples are extreme, but you would be amazed what tools people will try to misuse in their systems. Ensure that the tools you select are right for the job.

In the last post, we discussed 3 potential impacts from a poorly designed or implemented time management system. (Leak, Creep, and Bloat).

Today, I want to talk about “Creep.”

Does your time management system keep getting bigger?

I mean this literally, not in a maturing sense. Does it keep growing more appendages? More tools that you use and carry around? More places that you record and track things? You see where this is headed.

Creep tends to occur when your time management system does not have clearly defined “boundaries.” You do not know which tools are in or outside of your system. This can lead to using whatever is at hand or constantly adding new tools to your arsenal.

When creep adds more items to your system, it tends to reduce your efficiency. You end up with multiple tools that do that same thing. We want to stick to the simplest, yet most effective set of tools. (See the “Power of 1“)

A poor or incomplete time management system can wreck havoc on your personal organization and efficiency. In fact, a poor time management system can actually make you less productive. Let’s explore 3 impacts of a poorly implemented solution.

They are: Leak, Creep, and Bloat.

Each of these is different but they are often interrelated. An ill-defined or implemented system usually contains all three in some manner.

Why are we concerned with this? Bad time management slows us down and increases Life Friction, ultimately making things worse. We want to utilize the simplest forms of time management that bring effortless efficiency.

Leak, as its name implies, is the leaking of information from one’s time management system. Leak results from an incomplete system. One that lacks all of the tools needed to get the job done. The loss of information is due to “holes” in the system. It could be a lack of ability to capture notes or not having a place to record contact information.

Symptoms

You time management solution may have leaks if…

You have a desk drawer full of business cards – Why isn’t this information in your contact book?

One of the main reasons that people fail at time management is… because their system fails.

Too often people try to implement systems that are too complex. This leads to loss of information, overlooked obligations, and general frustration. (See “Why complex time management systems fail…“) It is ironic, that the #1 time management book today preaches a system that is so complex it needs a flow chart to explain it.

Simplest is best

One of the basic Time Management Ninja principles is simplicity. The simplest solution is usually the best and most efficient. Simplicity is the key to stressless, efficient, and effortless time management.

To that end… you should have only 1 of each type of tool in your toolbox.

At a time management seminar, we asked the participants to bring with them all the tools they currently use. Every calendar. Every todo list. Every address book. Etc.

It was amazing. One employee had a pile of stuff. A full-sized desk calendar, a PDA, a yellow pad of paper, and his cell phone. He also brought a printout of his online calendar.

I asked him how he knew which calendar to look at in the morning. He said it usually depended on where he was… at his desk, at home, etc. He was quick to admit that he often missed appointments because they were written on one calendar, but not the others. (Does this happen to you?)

Here are a few of the most common “Things you don’t have time not to do…”

Exercise – One of my personal pet peeves is when people say, “I don’t have time to go to the gym and workout.” The bottom line is… “you don’t have time not to work out.” Exercise is one of those magical activities that actual creates productivity. It gives you energy and it keeps you in shape. Both of these lead to increased productivity.

Planning & Preparation – It amazes me how many people charge into their day without a thought about what they are going to accomplish. People say, “I don’t have time to plan.” Yet, planning gives you more time in your day. It makes sure you get your priorities done first. And it ensures you don’t create more life friction by overlooking tasks and obligations.

Tasks with Deadlines – People often don’t do things even when there is a deadline. Paying bills, finishing projects, registering for events, are all things that don’t get done on time. This leads to more work and more time and money invested. Have you ever paid a late fee? Or had to do more work because you did not do something on time? There are entire companies based around the fact that people do not make deadlines. (FedEx, perhaps!)

Preventative Maintenance – It puzzles me when people do not take preventative measures for issues that they know will cause them more problems in the future. “I don’t have time” to get my car to the shop. Will, you have time, and $, when it breaks down? “I don’t have time” to go to the doctor. Will you have time when your condition gets worse?

There was a huge positive response to last week’s tweets about no meetings on Fridays. So, I thought it was appropriate for us to officially designate Fridays as “No Meeting Fridays.”

Many people have been saying that they are booked for so many meetings that they cannot get their work done. Have you ever finished a work day and thought, “Wow, I was in meetings all day… I did not have one minute to do my work.”

If you let them, the “Outlook Outlaws” will take all of your time. They will schedule unneccesary meetings all over your calendar. They will steal your valuable time.

And let’s face it… most of these meetings are not worth the time committed…

They have no agenda – What are we even meeting about?

People are late – Very productive when you start 20 minutes late.

Are poorly run – Deteriorate into a 25 minutes discussion of hockey or last night’s TV shows.

Run over their time limit

Accomplish little – After your last meeting were there any decisions or actions to be taken? Or just another meeting scheduled?

People doing other things – What happens when meetings are poorly run & people are stuck in them all day? People resort to doing their work during meetings!

So, let’s take back one day of the week for productivity!

Let’s declare Friday’s… Meeting Free!

The idea here is to protect an entire day for productivity. Let’s spend Friday getting things done. Projects. Reports. Creative work. One-on-one coaching. Things that require time and are important.

So, how do you protect your Friday?

Start simple. Block it out. If you want to protect your time, you need to “Block it out.” If you do not schedule yourself for time to do work… you will quickly find that you do not have any.

“But, my employer will not allow me to do work all day on Friday.” (How silly does that statement sound?)

Go ahead, block out all Friday. Feels good, doesn’t it?

I did this last week. Now, a week later, I am happy to see my Friday schedule. I have only one 0.5 hour meeting this morning at 9AM. After 930AM, I have the rest of the day scheduled to work on my projects.

If you block your Friday, you will observe a few things:

Most people will avoid scheduling on Friday.

A few will not – these are the people who would have double/triple booked your calendar anyway, or they have something important – these are the people you want to meet with anyway.

Friday will quickly become your most productive day of the week. What a great feeling to finish the work week!

So, what are you waiting for? Go ahead and mark next Friday! And let’s get productive.

We get pretty upset when people steal our money… so why do we turn a blind eye when people steal our time?

In fact, it is a pretty common occurrence for co-workers, bosses, even friends to steal our valuable time.

“Dost thou love life? Then do not squander time, for that is the stuff life is made of.”

– Ben Franklin

Time is our life. And you cannot get it back. Yet, our society has become desensitized to people monopolizing, interrupting, and simply taking our time.

In the workplace, this is rampant. From meetings that are 4x the length they need to be…to meetings that were unneccesary in the first place. People do not even think twice about taking our time.

The worst are the “Outlook Outlaws” who mercilessly schedule meetings on people’s calendars without notice or consideration to their time. These types are constantly calling meetings so that they can get people together. Perhaps, it is a power trip to make them feel important, or maybe it is done instead of them taking an active role to seek out information. (ie doing work!)

Too often we find that we are scheduled for so many extraneous meetings, that we do not leave any time to get our real work done!

Once upon a time people rushed to answer phones. For those old enough to remember, you had to get to the phone.

At one point we did not have answering machines. We did not have even have CallerID.

So, if you didn’t get to the phone…you did not even know who called.

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Today is different. We carry our phones in our pockets. We take them everywhere. (Even to the bathroom).

We have CallerId and visual voicemail. We know who is calling, who called, and what they wanted.

Yet… most people continue to let the phone rule their life instead of using it as a productivity tool.

Too often you see people answering their phones in a meeting. During a conversation. And yes, even in the movie theatre and in the bathroom!

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Why do we do this?

It is a huge time waster. And it destroys productivity.

My recommendation to improve your time management and productivity is simple…

Stop Answering the Phone!

Experiment: Do not answer your phone for a week. Yes. You are going to intentionally miss calls. If you have visual voicemail or a service that emails your VM’s, you will quickly know what you missed. You will be surprised how many calls were unnecessary or resolve themselves. Or better yet, can be addressed later on your timetable.

Just because Johnny wants to know what restaurant you want to eat at next week on the business trip, does not mean he needs to interupt you in the middle of a report you are constructing.

Tips for when you need to answer:

Answer with name of person of the person calling (they should already be in your address book and thus on CallerId)

This lets them know immediately that you know who you are talking to and avoids the “Hi. Hi, it’s John. Hi. How are you? Good. Did I catch you at a good time?”

Ask them immediately “What can I do for you?”

Best answer: “Hi John. What can I do for you?”

This can be a bit pointed, but it cuts right to the chase. You will find that people will very quickly let you know why they are calling. You can then respond by letting them know what you can do or that this immediate moment is not a good time.

With a little self-control, the phone can be a productivity tool, not a time thief. It is there for your convenience. Remember that next time you are tempted to answer it while in the middle of something.

You will probably even make the person you are with feel important since you did not take the call while speaking with them.